A Reading Report Card for IHES

Reading First is a federally funded program geared towards raising achievement of high risk learners in economically challenged schools. In researching effective reading programs I came upon a report published by Florida’s Reading First group. http://www.fcrr.org/Interventions/pdf/teachingAllStudentsToReadComplete.pdf (full report)
http://www.fcrr.org/Interventions/pdf/teachingAllStudentsToReadSummary.pdf (overview)
In their research of schools that were raising achievement they found some common traits of those schools. Among those traits are:

· Strong Leadership
· Positive Belief and Teacher Dedication
· Data Utilization and Analysis
· Effective Scheduling
· Professional Development
· Scientifically Based Intervention Programs
· Parent Involvement

I wondered how many we have and to what degree we have them and since it has to do with school why not attempt a report card. The report goes into detail on each of the traits and defines exactly what is meant by each.

Strong leadership means that the building leader is knowledgeable about reading instruction, knows children and is up to date on best practices. A strong leader is someone who sets the course and has pointed the staff in the right direction and supports them thru the ups and downs. Change doesn’t happen overnight, but if I were to make a report card for our school on these traits I would give an A at this time..

Positive Belief and Teacher Dedication means there is a pervasive belief that all students can achieve…despite whatever barrier or obstacle is in the way….teachers believe that all students will achieve. Teachers take the extra time needed to make sure all learners meet the goal. I agree that while our teachers are extremely dedicated we as a district aren’t doing everything that might help raise achievement…. especially of those students who struggle to meet the achievement goals set by the state. I have read about schools elsewhere who have extended the learning opportunities for learners who need extra help/support outside of the school day. I’m talking supplemental work beyond the school day for students. There is no teaching intervention that works better than an experienced teacher working one on one with a student in need. We provide many wonderful specials classes at Indian Hill. While they are important to growing the whole learner, I wonder if reading support at that time might be more beneficial to a student in the long run. Report card: B

Data Utilization and Analysis means gathering and looking at all available data to improve learning. Two years ago I would have given our school a C in this area. With the addition of Pinnacle Analytics and our homegrown reading assessment I will move that grade to a B. Remember, B is not bad, it is still above average. PA is good....but we are still just using it to look at "milestone" data. We need it to house the in between state testing measures.

To truly reach the A level we need to be gathering more regular data that measures a student over time…not just on acquisition of an indicator but also on reading fluency and comprehension. If we aren’t measuring every few weeks, how do we know learning or growth is taking place…how do we identify the students that need the extra support that we have available? The Florida report recommends data being gathered several times a month. Each measurement doesn’t have to be a big blowout stop teaching assessment. It can be something as simple as a fluency test followed by comprehension questions. We are doing some of this with our reading inventories (BRI) but I don’t get the sense that they are impacting instructional decisions on a regular basis yet and they aren’t recorded for administration to review progress and right now they happen only twice per year unless a teacher chooses to go above and beyond.

Effective Scheduling means that teachers can teach reading for uninterrupted blocks of time no less than 90 minutes. Students that need intensive intervention should receive 105+ minutes of uninterrupted instruction. Also under the heading of Effective Scheduling is the teacher’s planning schedule. Teachers need to have common time to discuss intervention and their impact on student learning. This allows teachers to continue to learn from each other about different instructional practices. I have to give our school a B- on this. Although grade 5 has common planning time, we haven’t figured out a way to give all 3rd and 4th grade teachers common planning time. Some schools have accomplished this by changing the teacher’s workday (with extra pay) so that teachers can get together after school is over and continue to work on their intervention plans for the next day. The article also talks about the flexibility in grouping that needs to occur so students can move from group to group as needed. That’s right…homogenous reading groups from time to time. I hope our district takes a look at the Professional Learning Community (PLCs) practices that are showing positive results around the country. We share information and strategies...but if we can formalize the process a bit more we can gain more by making a conscious effort to do it, record it, and share it.

Professional Development for teachers needs to be ongoing and continual. New brain research is impacting the way we teach children, especially those who struggle to learn how to read. Teachers need to continually learn to hone their craft in order to be more effective with their students. There is no teacher who knows it all or can’t learn a new trick or two from effective professional development. Other professionals are responsible for staying at the top of their profession and so should teachers. Although our professional development has changed drastically (for the good) I think we are still missing out on new learning opportunities. There is much to learn and not enough time to learn, digest, and put it all together in order for it to truly more the impact in the classroom that it might. Two half days and a number of faculty meetings simply aren’t enough. The new learning needs have outgrown the model of delivery that we available to us. We need to reinvent that model of delivery. B-

Scientifically Based Intervention Programs are those that have been demonstrated by research to work…meaning they teach young people how to read. There are commercially produced intervention materials that have shown excellent results with different learners. The drawback is that these programs are expensive and take time to have impact. Last year our school purchased Academy of Reading which is one of the most researched commercial products for reading instruction. The intent of the program is to reach those students who are still struggling with phonemic awareness and decoding. Higher levels of reading such as comprehension won’t happen until students are able to READ the text in front of them. I will have to abstain from a vote in this area, since I really am not sure if what we use or are doing with our struggling readers is scientifically validated one way or another.

The last of the traits is Parental Involvement which relates to the relationship that a school/teacher have developed with a parent/family. The bottom line is: are the lines of communication open? Can parents ask questions about how to help their child? Does the teacher communicate progress on a regular basis? If someone asked me if I communicated progress on a regular basis to my parents, my default answer would be….of course I do, I post all the grades on PIV, I send home graded papers, and I fill out a report for each student. But does that really transfer to a parent knowing how well their child is doing? As a parent who is now just starting to receive this kind of communication from my own children’s school I am less sure that it provides a big enough picture. Perhaps that is because I am an educator. Last year our first grader was really struggling with the letter/sound association. Because of this he was pulled out of class and worked with a reading specialist. We would receive monthly reports, complete with graphs of his progress. This type of information was very helpful for us in terms of understanding the needs and growth of our child. The teacher was also very helpful in sending home specific assignments/activities what would help our first grader learn what he most needed. Wouldn’t it be great if all parents were able to receive that type of reports for their child…regardless of their ability? Schools might not be able to provide that level of detail…but the state via their upcoming Valued Added plans will make an attempt. The Value Added reports will be sent home to parents starting next year and parents will see if their child grew by a year in a year’s worth of schooling (at least by state standards). B+ as I think that we could still do more….especially if we begin to gather more data….we can share this data with our parents to keep them informed. I think we might also want to consider working on some professional development for our parents…..having special evening sessions in which we “teach” parents how to support the learning efforts of their child. We could grow this program by later inviting parent volunteers to come in and work in small groups with students. Once again, the value of this is creating smaller groups for the students to participate in. With appropriate training I think a parent could be very effective in providing some reading support and reinforcement in the classroom.